A Danville high schooler has earned the top prize in her congressional district for a technology contest hosted by Rep. Mark DeSaulnier's office for her app that helps people track their stress and anxiety levels.
Krisha Singhani of Monte Vista High School in Danville was named the winner in DeSaulnier's district in the Congressional App Challenge, which aims to support and promote students putting technology and engineering to use for bringing their fresh ideas to life.
"As always, I am very impressed by the ingenuity and skill of all the students across our district who participated in this year's app challenge and congratulate our winner on her remarkable submission," DeSaulnier said in a recent announcement.
Singhani's app -- dubbed TrueDetect -- uses biosensors to gather real-time data that is meant to inform users about their mental health, provide insight and track trends over time via a mobile app.
"Watching people I cared about deal with stress and anxiety got me thinking about how I could help them and the thousands of others who dealt with similar mental health struggles and that's really what inspired and motivated this project," Singhani told DanvilleSanRamon. "So while I'm thrilled that I got this recognition, I'm more thrilled just thinking about the positive impact this project could have on teens."
DeSaulnier also highlighted his support for addressing rising mental health challenges for teens.
"Addressing issues of mental health, particularly among young people, has been a top priority of mine in Congress and I am proud of and grateful for Krisha's efforts to provide support for those struggling with their mental health," DeSaulnier said.
Monte Vista principal Kevin Ahern said that he was particularly struck by Singhani's outside-the-box thinking and unique design in the winning app.
"Our students really do amazing things," Ahern said. "One thing that I am so incredibly impressed with about Krisha is that she really showed her love for learning through innovation."
Ananth Venkatesh, a fellow SRVUSD student at San Ramon Valley High School, was named third-place finisher in the challenge for his submission -- COVID-19 Notebook -- which provides the latest historical data and present trends of the virus locally, as well as offering projections for the future based on existing data and patterns.
Andrew Zheng of Acalanes High School in Lafayette earned second place in the contest for his app Find, which focuses on better organization and searchability for digital photos.
TrueDetect and other winning submissions from participating districts across the country are set to be displayed in Washington D.C., with the winning students being honored at an event later in the year.
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